CBC Moncton’s Jonna Brewer to emcee Sackville show at special cross-Canada event

SACKVILLE, NB —Mount Allison University will host a special concert entitled Beyond the Marshes as part of a national series in support of the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention (CASP) on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 9 a.m. in Brunton Auditorium (Marjorie Young Bell Conservatory of Music). This is the second year for the cross-Canada event.

Beyond the Marshes is part of Mysterious Barricades: A Cross-Canada Concert for Suicide Awareness, Prevention, and HOPE concert series, being held at 15 locations across Canada to mark World Suicide Prevention Day.

Jonna Brewer, host of CBC Moncton’s Information Morning will serve as emcee at the morning concert. The event will also include remarks and stories from Mount Allison students.

“It’s truly moving to see the swell of support in the Arts for such an important cause as suicide awareness and prevention, and the Department of Music at Mount Allison is honoured to be able to host the Mysterious Barricades Sackville concert in Brunton Auditorium again this year,” says Dr. Kevin Morse, acting head of the Department of Music. “Sally Dibblee and her team of volunteer performers and technicians — as well as many others like them across Canada — are inspiring examples of the real difference that the Arts can make in the world, and the humanity it is able to restore.”

This volunteer-driven series of events is the brainchild of Elizabeth Turnbull, an Edmonton opera singer and faculty member at the University of Alberta, who lost her husband, Chris, to suicide in September 2015.

“I want people at risk of suicide to know how much their lives matter, and that we as a country and a community wish for the stigma of mental illness to become a thing of the past,” Turnbull said. “More and more, people are coming forward with their personal struggles and this is exactly what needs to happen. People need to feel safe in talking about their mental health and encouraged to seek help.

“Our hope is that fewer people will suffer in silence, more resources will be dedicated to preventing suicide, and, ultimately, fewer people will die this way.”

The 15 concerts, beginning in St. John’s, NL at sunrise and concluding in Victoria, BC at sunset, will be livestreamed at www.mysteriousbarricades.org, giving concert-goers across the country 21 hours of music to enjoy in-person and virtually.

All concerts are free and open to the public. The Mount Allison concert will be held between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. (AST) with donations being accepted in support of the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention. Several local mental health and wellness organizations will also be onsite with information about their services and programs.

Beyond the Marshes is being organized by the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention, Mount Allison University, and the Canadian Mental Health Association (NB Chapter).